A Collection of Stories

November 2093

The following is a transcript of an interview between 'What's New With You' host, Adam Schlan, and Witches for Publicity volunteer, Samatha M.

Adam: Hello and welcome back to ‘What’s New With You?’! Today, our guest is from Witches for Publicity. If you haven’t heard of WFP, it’s an organization looking to help witches come out of hiding. They want to familiarize our world with theirs and they hope that both worlds will live together in peace from now on. Please give a warm welcome to Samantha, representing WFP! So, tell us, Samantha, what’s new with you?

S: Well, this year is officially my 10th year with WFP.

A: Congrats! What made you decide to volunteer for WFP?

S: My mother joined WFP before I started training to be a witch. She inspired me. I decided I wanted to make a difference, just like her, so I joined WFP as soon as I was old enough to. Everyone involved with WFP is so welcoming and accepting, that it really wasn’t hard to get into.

A: I absolutely love that! Our station completely supports WFP. We want our viewers to know that we’re donating $10,000 to your cause and that they can follow the link on their screen to donate to your cause as well. Now, onto a fun question from one of our viewers. Anna, from Sudbury, ON, asks, “Where did the iconic black cat and witch duo originate from?”

S: Well, about 700 years ago, due to their playful and sneaky behaviour, cats became associated with the devil. Some witches kept cats because it prevented villagers from going near their houses. So, naturally, witches became associated with the devil as well. I know one of the first witches ever hunted down also owned a cat. The pairing must’ve just caught on over time. A more realistic reason that witches kept cats was because cats, and dogs too, are more in tune with the afterlife than humans are. You might catch your pet staring off into the distance. That’s because they can see things we can’t. Pets are also a great way to combat the loneliness witches once had to suffer. As you already know, it used to be that witches were hunted down and killed. For that reason, they didn’t risk letting anyone in on their secret. They didn’t fall in love because they feared that even their lovers might turn them in over to soldiers or witch hunters.

A: Did all witches live alone then?

S: It’s a complicated answer because there are so many variables. Some witches lived together, either as friends or as romantic partners. Some witches had access to advanced medicines, so they lived longer than the average person at the time. This could be very upsetting, yanno, since they’d out-live any partner or family member. Imagine watching your friends and family die. So yes, witches very often lived alone, but now we’re able to fall in love with non-witches since people are more accepting of us. And we can share our medical knowledge, increasing the average lifespan for everyone instead of just ourselves.

A: Yes, science and witchcraft have combined to make some amazing things these past few years! But before we touch on that, I have another question. What are some different types of witches and their abilities?

S: Oh wow, there are many different types. We try our best to organize witches into certain categories. Like we have medical witches that function as our doctors, and we have prediction-type witches – you name it! Medical witches often use herbs to make medicine or they can cast healing charms or spells to ward off sickness. Prediction-type witches look at things such as stars, cards, or even dice, and can predict when a disaster might strike or when someone might find love.

A: What about curses?

S: Cursing comes with any type of witchcraft. For example, a medical witch might curse a herb and, as a result, it’s healing properties are ineffective. Or a prediction-type witch might curse their cards to reveal only the good to come in the next week, hiding a disaster from their customer.

A: Should the public, or rather, the non-witches, be scared that they’re going to be cursed?

S: Oh no, of course not! Witches haven’t been taught how to curse for the past two generations. It’s been completely removed from any form of teachings, and books containing curses have been burned or locked away. All witches have also been taught how to counter-curse. Not to mention there are thousands of de-cursing charms available for free online. Everyone is completely safe from all types of curses, including hexing.

A: Witches have really been taking several steps to making non-witches feel more relaxed. That’s wonderful! And non-witches have become more accepting of witchcraft as well. That reminds me, what about boys? Are they being accepted into Covens now?

S: Yup! There are no gender or sex limitations. Witches for Publicity believe that anyone can be a witch, and that everyone should know that witches exist. We don’t want to hide anymore. We want to be a part of this world, and we want to help make it better.

A: So, what future does WFP see for our world?

S: You just said it! We see this world as our world. It doesn’t belong to witches, it doesn’t belong to non-witches, it belongs to both.

A: Thank you so much for answering all our questions! Remember, to those watching or reading at home, don’t hesitate to submit more questions in the comments below! We will send your questions to Samantha via email who will answer your questions as soon as she can. Once we have the answer, we will update this very page you’re looking at with the Q and A! Don’t hesitate to submit those questions! Until next time, this has been ‘What’s New With You?’.